The words won’t come. But the safety I feel gives me relief, and I let everything go.
“Sh…” Luca soothes, running a hand up and down my back, “I'm right here.” Luca's arms tighten around me.
“I'll go check on him,” Noah says. Then his steps are fading down the hall.
Luca and I stand there for a few minutes, with me just crying into his chest, my hands fisting the back of his shirt like he's my only lifeline.
“I got you.” Luca continues to repeat.
I wipe my eyes on the back of my sleeves, sniffling,
“I'm sorry, Luca,” I push the words out, “I'm such a mess.”
Luca guides me with a hand on my back to one of the chairs, grabbing a handful of napkins from the coffee station. I take them, wiping my eyes and blowingmy nose.
“Hot,” Luca jokes, and a choked laugh comes out before I can stop it.
Luca sits beside me, his arms wrap around me once again.
I rest my head on his shoulder, gripping the tissues in my hand.
“This isn't fair to you.” I stare at my hands and pick at the edge of an unused napkin.
Luca forces air through his lips.
“So, you're getting back with him?”
Luca mistakes the tension in my body as an answer.
“Just tell me how. How can he hurt you so thoroughly, and you're just willing to take him back?”
I lift my head.“Luca…”
He stands up, beginning to pace.
“He lied, Iz! He lied to you, lied tous. Hekidnappedyou!” He's running his hands through his hair as he rambles.
“Luca—”
“He literally left you in a basement to be tortured for five months. FIVE months!”
“Silvain—”
“And he goes off and does the same thing, lying to us, hiding the real plan, and he gets hurt, and all is forgiven?”
“No, he's not?—”
“I know you're going to say that it's going to take time to rebuild what you had, but I can't just stand by and let you do this. I can't just let you go back into his arms and wait for him to hurt you again. Not when I know I could keep you safe. I would never hurt you. I would tell you everything. I know that no matter what, there's a way for us to work through everything, as long as we do it together.”
I push myself up from the chair, tissues falling to the floor. I cross over, stopping him in his tracks.
“He says he loves you, but does he really? Who lets a crazy bitch inject something into the person they 'love' so they can take them to their dad's evil lair to get chained up and?—”
“LUCA, Shut. Up.” I grab his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me.
“Isobel—”
“Luca, hear my words. I'm not getting back together with Jace.”
